Project Summary

The system of modern automotive transportation suffers from perpetually increasing demand. In this light, we are examining a simple cellular automata model of vehicle traffic (BML), and investigating the utility of intelligent traffic signals. The work is part of a larger effort at UVM to model traffic and its relationship to land use in Chittenden County, Vermont. As part of this larger effort, we are examining the stability of TRANSIMS, a state-of-the-art agent-based model of transportation developed by Los Alamos National Lab. UrbanSim will be coupled to TRANSIMS and used to simulate changes in land use. The sensitivity of the coupled model to the level of model complexity is being examined through comparative variation in different dynamic processes, submodels, variables, and parameters. The goal will be to develop a guidance matrix that would inform analysts of the appropriate level of model complexity required for a given practical application.